I have read about some cities testing this by converting some of their big buses with veg-oil. As far as pollution goes -- particulates and toxins like sulfer were almost nonexistant.
Smelly...? It is reported to have an oder of...french fries !
Yeru, I don't agree with a lot you post, but I'll give credit to you for this one. What you bring up here (alternatives) should be the national and world energy goal. The 'black' gold is finite !
Thanks !
Alternative Fuel Source...TOO COOL...Or is that HOT!
by Yerusalyim 37 Replies latest social current
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Rabbit
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Abaddon
Just as there will never be an equal number of male and female politicians unless women put the electoral boot into parties that are not making this an important policy, so too will fossil fuels remain king until the elctorate puts the boot into parties which do not massively prioritise alternative fuels.
THINK ABOUT IT.
If person a will vote for you at the end of the day whether you maintain a status quo regarding fuel use, or whether you have a progresive policy, why piss off the companies that fund your election campaigns?
Things will only change if we motivate that politcally. We can do our own bit. If that worked everyone would have been driving around using LPG for two decades. But we can make the politicians jones for the power they want by depriving them of it unless they conform to our desires.
At the moment it's not a question of politicians conforming to the elctorates desires, at least not in effective two-party states like the USA and UK. What happens is we get to choose between two brands.
Only through (tired bored sigh) the use of proportional representation will politicians catering for the multiplicity and graduation of opinion and desire that resides within the electorate be able to gain any power.
At the moment the 'other' parties or the independants, outside the two dominant ones, have no real political power outside of one of two votes a year. Thus the agendas of the main parties drives politics. IF those other parties/independants had clout in the House of Representatives/House of Commons proportional to the number of people that voted for them (say 30-40% of seats distributed amongst smaller parties), rather than the handful of seats they get under current electoral systems, then OUR opinions would be acted on more often.
Not your opinion, not mine, but that of politicians themselves.
If you do want subtlety, consensus, and real democracy - rather than the archaic representative electoral systems the UK and the USA are shackled too - then lobby for proportional representation.
It will open the door for your opinions on other subjects being represented in government.
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Simon
Don't get me wrong, I think diesel is great ... I have had lots of diesel cars including the current one and they sup less juice. I'm surprised that they are not more popular in the US but I think you have not had the economic incentive to use them before.
The problem I have with bio-diesel is that it cannot produce the amounts you need to replace current petroleum based fuel usage without having a massive impact on food production and other things. And it *will* cost you more.
What you need to do is use less. It really is that simple. Bleating on about dependance on foreign oil and then complaining when the price goes up or getting indignant when people suggest that driving 8MPG SUVs everywhere is a tad silly will not solve the problem.
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Billygoat
(If you're low on "fuel", you can always eat a can of beans LOL)
Did anyone ever see that Seinfeld with Kramer's horse he borrowed???
"Rusty!!!!"
LOL!
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Yerusalyim
The problem I have with bio-diesel is that it cannot produce the amounts you need to replace current petroleum based fuel usage without having a massive impact on food production and other things. And it *will* cost you more.
Simon,
Here in the US we pay farmers to leave MILLIONS of acres fallow...so I'm not seeing this having a MASSIVE impact...especially since I don't advocate forcing people to convert. It could become quite popular however...if more people knew about it. I still think long term hydrogen is the way to go.
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exjdub
A sure sign that the apocalypse is upon us: I am replying to a thread wherin Yeru is advocating a "green" solution and Simon is critical of it. Holy crap...my whole world is about to crumble! LOL!
Yeru,
All joking aside, I appreciate your views on this issue and your willingness to look for alternatives. It seems to me that even if the fuel were more expensive to buy, as Simon mentioned, it would at least stimulate our own economy instead of the Middle East's. I also think that eventually it is going to come down to needing several solutions before we stop using fossil fuels. Biodiesel, hydrogen cell, electric/hybrid, solar, or anything else that is in development right now. Like any other technology, if we just get started and move in a direction, it will get refined and improved to address the problems that prevent mass use of alternatives.
exjdub
PS: Simon, I know what you are trying to say, I just couldn't resist the opportunity to yank yer chain. -
Abaddon
Sad thing is it's not really being advocated as a green solution, but as a way the US can be less dependant on other countries...
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exjdub
"Sad thing is it's not really being advocated as a green solution, but as a way the US can be less dependant on other countries..."-Abaddon
That is sad Abaddon...but for a lot of people that is the only way to reach them. It is difficult to get people to do things for the environment or to think globally.
exjdub